Since 1971 the third Monday in February has been set aside to honor George Washington (real birthday Feb. 22, but under the old calendar in effect at the time he was born in 1732, his real real birthday was Feb. 11) and Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12, 1809).

But it wasn't just to split the difference between their birthdays. but to honor all those who have served as presidents -- even Warren G. Harding, even Ulysses S. Grant, even James Buchanan, who recently topped the list drawn up by historians as having made the worst presidential mistakes in U.S. history.

According to a story by The Associated Press released over the weekend, Buchanan's blunder was to allow the United States to slip into Civil War: He stood by wringing his hands as seven states seceded from the union on his watch, which ended in early 1861.

The list also includes Andrew Johnson's mishandling of post-Civil War reconstruction of the South (No. 2); Lyndon Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War (No. 3); Woodrow Wilson's "refusal to compromise" on the Treaty of Versailles following World War 1 (No. 4); and Richard Nixon's Watergate mess (No. 5).

Even Bill Clinton made the list at No. 10 with the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Where, some of you may be asking, is George W. Bush on the list? Well, Bush-haters take heart: in some versions of this weekend's story, the historians said it's still too early to tell whether the decision to invade Iraq will make the list of all-time presidential blunders.

Imagine that, the jury is still out.

Meanwhile, some of you have the day off today -- here is a list of holiday closings. No doubt, you will be taking the time to meditate on presidents past, their blunders and their contributions to history.

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